Franz Lehár
DIE LUSTIGE WITWE
Opernhaus Zürich, 2004

To save the billions belonging to the young and attractive widow Hanna Glawari for his country Pontevedro, Baron Zeta initiates a very special matchmaking: he commands the charming womanizer Count Danilo Danilowitsch to carry out his patriotic duty in marrying the widow. What the baron cannot have known is that Danilo and Hanna already had a relationship in the past… Helmut Lohner really excels in presenting this amusing love story on stage. The gorgeous set (mainly designed in red and gold), the elegant costumes (with an accomplished mix of traditional costumes and Parisian evening attire, which perfectly reflects the mix in Lehár’s composition), and the presentation of the characters (with a shrewd eye-twinkling) add up to a formidable whole.

Few works of the operatic world are politically so burdened as Wagner’s “Meistersinger von Nürnberg”, which was known to be Hitler’s favourite opera. The production by Götz Friedrich for the Deutsche Oper in...